Something Like Love
by Jaiaelle
Summary: Correct title:  Something. Like. Love.  First, it was something.  Then, it was like.  But it had always been love.  Basically, my response to "Duets" in three parts.
1. Something

_Author's Note: I just got around to watching "Duets" and I didn't dislike it as much I had anticipated. Solid character development. The Bartie made my stomach turn a little but...well, I won't write an essay about that. By far, Quinn was my favorite in the episode. ANYWAY, this is sort of my...fanfic response to the episode but this is only part one. It obviously contains spoilers for "Duets" so you have been forewarned. _

**_Something. Like. Love._**

**_Part One - Something._**

"I heard you and Artie broke up."

Closing her locker, Brittany turned slowly to Quinn, confused as to why the head cheerleader had asked her a question that had nothing to do with cheerleading. The two of them hardly ever talked about anything outside of the sport. "Oh…yeah. We did." Glancing down, Brittany tried not to let the guilt inside of her eat away. It happened every time she thought of or saw Artie.

"Why?"

Sniffing a little, Brittany bit her top lip, not sure how to approach the topic. She really didn't feel like telling Quinn the truth. "Something about…something," Brittany mumbled, starting to pivot and escape Quinn's pointed questions.

"Brittany, wait."

Pausing, Brittany kept her eyes cast to the ground, avoiding eye contact with the other girl.

"I don't know what happened but you shouldn't just…let him get away. Artie's not the type of guy any girl should let go. Tina did. She under appreciated him."

Wrinkling her brow, Brittany glanced at Quinn. "All I have to do stop Artie from getting away is pick up him out of his wheelchair."

"That's not what I meant, Britt. It's like this…Artie, he's special. He's not like other guys. It's hard to put into words, exactly. I remember the first time we had any interaction. We didn't even talk. It was weird. He was sitting in the choir room, waiting for the rest of glee club to come in. He was sort of introspective. I took the chair next to him and dropped my folder while doing so. Without hesitation, he picked it up and handed it to me. Our eyes met and it was like…kismet."

Not sure why Quinn was telling her any of this, Brittany scooted back against the lockers, actually interested in hearing it, even if it made zero sense. "You kissed him when you met?"

"No, no…fate or something, I don't know. Like there's a connection between us or whatever. Sometimes I feel like he really gets it, gets me, and I don't how know he does it. He's the kind of guy a girl could find herself falling in love with."

When Quinn quit talking, in the middle of a thought, Brittany stared at her, willing the other girl to continue. After several minutes she didn't, so Brittany decided to say something. "Did you forget what you were saying? I do that all the time…"

"No…I was thinking about when Artie pulled my name out of that hat, when we were supposed to do those ballads. We never actually sang together. Probably never will…"

Jutting out her bottom lip, Brittany thought hard. "I bet Mr. Schuester would let you."

"…I don't know if that's a good idea. Because once something starts, there's no turning back. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing. He's a great guy who deserves better than a girl like me. Plus...there's Sam now."

By this point, Brittany's brain was starting to hurt. It was worse than reading those Dr. Seuss books.

"You should go talk to him, Britt. He's in the band room."

For the rest of the day, Brittany searched for the band room, at last discovering it, after the final bell. Just like Quinn had told her, Artie was there, strumming a guitar and humming. Feeling sad, she made her way in, quietly taking a chair and just listening. He started to sing but immediately stopped upon seeing her.

"What do you want?"

Hearing the hurt in his voice, she frowned. "I wanted to say I'm sorry and I think I wanted to see if we could get back together."

"…okay. Well…you're sorry. I sort of think you really are but I don't want to get back together with you. I still like Tina and I thought dating you and being with you would change that but…it didn't."

Quinn's words from earlier echoed in her head and so she gave voice to them, although she was unsure of their meaning. "Tina under appreciates you."

"…what? You think so?"

Shrugging, Brittany stared at Artie's wheelchair, trying to figure out what to say. "I hope we can be friends. Quinn said that, about Tina." When she lifted her eyes to meet his, he looked genuinely shocked and sputtered a bit before responding.

"Yeah, we can be friends. I guess. I'm still a little hurt but…you coming here means something. And…Quinn said that? Quinn Fabray? About Tina not appreciating me?"

Cheered by the prospect of some sort of friendship with Artie, Brittany smiled wide and nodded emphatically. "Quinn Fabray said that. I don't know the other Quinn."

"I don't if there is another Quinn. But she said that? It's like she gets it or something. I mean, she does. Like last spring, when I was hurting about Tina choosing Mike to be her dance partner, she just touched my shoulder, like she understood. And I really think she did. No one else even noticed, not even Tina."

Placing her hands on her knees, Brittany stretched out her back, curious as to why everyone seemed to be wanting to tell her all these…things today. It was worse than Dr. Seuss. It was like when Santana made her watch that movie where the people were all speaking another language and there were tiny words at the bottom of the screen. "Mike's a really good dancer."

"Right…it still hurt. Quinn knew that. She's…there's something about her. She's special. She's like…she's the type of girl a guy could fall in love with."

His words seemed familiar to her, as if she had heard them before, but she couldn't place them. "Why don't you then? Cause you're a guy and she's a girl…"

"…I don't deserve a girl like Quinn Fabray. I know she's not perfect but that's what makes her so…perfect. …and I love Tina."

Figuring the conversation was over, Brittany stood up and looked down at him. "So we're friends?" Looking up at him, he barely seemed to register what she said but then nodded once. Happy, she skipped out into the hall, knowing Santana was at Brittany's house, waiting for the blonde. Talking with Artie had made her late but it was also something Brittany needed to do even if Santana didn't care.

Twenty minutes later, Brittany bounced into her room, where Santana was filing her nails. "I talked to Artie and he doesn't hate me anymore. I know I hurt him but he says we're friends. I really didn't mean to. I like him. He's nice. Quinn told me I should get back together with him but we're not going to."

"You're late to meet _me_ because you had to talk to _him?"_

Sometimes Santana frustrated her, the way she acted as if nothing that was important to Brittany mattered. But she didn't want to argue so she changed the subject completely. "I think Artie is in love with Quinn."

"Figures. She's got Puck, Finn, that new kid, all sniffing after her. Now Wheels. I bet even Kurt's harboring some opposite-sex desires toward her."

After contemplating what the opposite of sex was, and coming to the conclusion that it was probably kissing, Brittany selected her favorite green, sparkly nail polish from her collection. "And I think Quinn is in love with Artie." She had painted three fingers when she realized that Santana hadn't replied to what she had said. Looking up, she met Santana's gaze tilting her head. At long last, the other girl snorted.

"Doubtful. Quinn goes after awkward jock types. Finn and now Finn 2.0. Artie does not fit in that category."

Though Brittany had never heard a caterpillar referred to that way she chose not to ask about it. Santana might be right about Quinn and Artie but the only way to find out was to lock them in together in a closet…

* * *

_Author's END note: I hope Brittany doesn't come off as...without depth in this. I wanted her to be the Brittany we know and love but also with some added depth. She really felt bad about what happened with Artie...I wanted that to be portrayed. Anyway, the next two parts will be in a different format and not in Britt's POV._


	2. Like

_Author's Note: Part two up already! Yes. I have had this sort of mapped out in my mind since Tuesday but I couldn't complete it until I actually watched the episode...so now it's all coming out quite quickly. I'll probably write the third part tonight? and post it tomorrow? Not posting a written chapter is sort of like not reading a spoiler...I just can't help myself. Please enjoy and review! :D_

**_Part Two - Like._**

The walls felt like they were closing in around him but, no matter how many times he pounded on the door, no one came to rescue him. It was times like these he really just wanted to kick something. He had all but given up hope when the door opened and light flooded in. "Thank God," he muttered, making his way out of the closet. He hadn't gotten far when a warm body collided into his. "Oof," he exhaled, bringing his hands up to steady…whoever. They brushed an area completely on accident and he blushed, in complete realization that this was a girl.

"Artie?" She wasn't sure why she was asking. She knew it was him. The better question might've been, "Why are you in here? Why am I in here? Why did Britt lock us in together?" But to try to figure out the actions of one Brittany S. Pierce could be rather difficult.

"Qu-quinn?" Artie squeaked. It occurred to him that perhaps Brittany had retained more from their conversation the other day than he had thought. It terrified him that she might have shared any of that with Quinn.

"What does Britt think she's doing?" Quinn demanded, hand on hip.

It was too dark in the closet for Artie to see her face, he could picture it quite well. "What I don't get is why this door locks from the outside and how she even got the keys."

Shrugging, Quinn leaned against the door, fumbling with her cell phone. "I just sent a text to Rachel. Hopefully, she can let us out soon."

Hopeful seemed the wrong word, especially since he was stuck in a closet with Quinn Fabray. Not the worst situation in the world. "Yeah," was all he said in response.

When her phone buzzed, Quinn glanced down at it. "Ugh. She's in class and she's not leaving in the middle… Why didn't I text someone else?" But Quinn knew exactly why. She had distanced herself from anyone she might have once called friend. But Rachel had never been friend and was thus an easier choice.

Trying not to smile at the thought of being there with her for a whole period, even though she couldn't see him that well anyway, Artie leaned back in his chair. "I've been locked in here since lunch. Brittany grabbed my wheelchair and pushed me in here and shut the door."

"She texted me after class started and told me she really needed me. Then she hurried me across campus and shoved me in here." Sliding her hand along the wall, Quinn discovered a light switch and flipped it. Once the dim bulb flickered to life and she could see, she frowned. "Do you think this is funny?"

"What?" Seeing her standing there in her cheerleader outfit, though he saw her like that everyday, made him wish for the days when she had worn regular clothes. Her dresses and sweaters and flats, her hair down and not pulled back in a tight ponytail. "No."

"You…were smiling."

He blinked several times before shaking his head. But, of course, he almost had been. How had she known?

"Whatever."

Many people would have taken her whatever to be dismissive but Artie knew it was her way of changing the subject, of not granting the issue importance, which he was grateful for. He bit the inside of his cheek as he contemplated what he could change the topic to and, before he could stop himself, the word vomit was spewing out. "Do you ever regret anything? Like there's something you've done that you wish you could take back, wish you could do differently? My first time was…" Horrified, he trailed off, not sure why he had gone there.

Without batting an eye, as the expression went, Quinn responded. "You're talking to me, Artie. I know all about regret. But I've come to learn something. Regret is stupid."

Tilting his head, Artie thought about it and figured she was right. What good would regret do? But he wanted to hear what else she had to say, so he remained silent.

Twisting her hands, Quinn glanced at him, eyes filled with past mistakes. "If you choose to regret, you will just be tormented daily by what you should've done differently. I think about it a lot. My first time, with Puck…it wasn't what I wanted, wasn't how I thought it should be. But…I won't let myself regret it. Instead, I look at as an experience that shapes who I am, who I'm going to be." Sighing, Quinn reclined against the drab wall of the closet. She had never shared these particular thoughts with anyone before.

Grinning a little, Artie nodded. "I guess I should stop regretting my first…" Swallowing, he couldn't even get the words out. It was still to fresh to talk about, especially to Quinn. "I can look it as…an experience that will help shape me," he said, borrowing her words. Pausing, he held in his next thought for a moment before deciding to share anyway. "Way to get all philosophical on me."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, chuckling.

"We should talk more often," he went on, quickly.

Smiling, she nodded. "I'd like that, Artie. You're…" Biting on her bottom lip, she recalled all that she had said to Brittany only a few days earlier. "…a great person," she concluded.

The compliment sort of fell flat but Artie was too busy watching her bite down on her bottom lip, thinking how sexy it was, to really pay what she had said much mind. "Oh…uh…right…you too."

Bending at the waist, she placed a hand over his. "I really mean it."

It took all his willpower not to jump at the contact. "I really mean it too."

"Good." Straightening, she ran her hands down her skirt, unsure as to why her insides felt as if they were trembling.

"I'm still in love with Tina," he informed her, out of nowhere, with a suddenness that shocked himself. In fact, he hadn't even known he was going to say it until he said it, again with the word vomit. Now, he was wishing Rachel would hurry up.

As if in retaliation, Quinn said, her voice sharp, "I really like Sam."

Retreating into themselves, they didn't speak for the next ten minutes or so, when the door was abruptly pulled open by an annoyed looking Rachel. "If I'm late for my next class, I will not be happy! Please tell Brittany not do this again."

Nodding as they exited, Quinn first, followed by Artie, they assured Rachel they would do just that.

Over the course of the next few days, however, Brittany managed to lock them in there two more times. Neither could quite figure out how she had done it but they secretly didn't mind being cooped up together in the small space. But, after the third time, a shrill Rachel marched up to Brittany and commanded the taller girl to cease with her pointless shenanigans. Brittany really didn't know what Shannon Higgins had to do with anything but she agreed, mostly because she was a little bit scared of Rachel. And, anyway, Quinn and Artie apparently weren't in love because nothing had happened while they had been locked in the closet.

A few months later, Artie and Tina got back together. It was without ceremony and had sort of just happened but he was elated. The Thursday after they got back together, they came into glee club together and Tina sat by him, taking his had. Across the room sat Quinn, next to Sam, the two of them also hand in hand.

As Mr. Schuester started talking, their eyes met and both smiled, a little, before turning their attention to the enthusiastic glee advisor.


	3. Love

_Author's Note: Did I not promise part three today? Oh that's right, I did. So here it is. It jumps ahead quite a bit and then skips some stuff and stuff but that's on purpose. Also, Quinn is...well, she's the way I write a comfortable Quinn, at the end. ALSO, I don't own Glee because if I did...Quinn/Artie would be happening now...like as friends...who morph into more. Epic fail that that is not the case._

**_Part Three - Love._**

When his named was called and he rolled across the stage to receive his diploma, the first out of the glee club, Artie couldn't help but reflect over his past few years. He had started high school as the nobody in the wheelchair and had become…that kid in glee club who was in a wheelchair. At least, to most of the school. To the ones that mattered, he had become somebody. He had dated his first love and discovered that they didn't quite fit together. He had lost virginity to a girl he didn't have feelings for in a way that didn't make him happy but it was a life shaping experience. He had been on the football team for one season and it had been awesome. And now he was done with it all…but there was still something he needed to take care of.

Head held high, Quinn walked across the stage, shaking the principal's hand and blinking back tears. Her thoughts were focused on her high school career and all that had taken place in the four short years. She had started high school as Sue Sylvester's pick of the litter but had fallen from grace when she got knocked up by her boyfriend's best friend, who she had had no romantic inclinations for. She had won and lost her first love. She had climbed from the bottom back to the top, ending lifelong friendships in the process. She had discovered who she was in glee club and found out that person wasn't all that terrible. And now she was done with it all…but there was still something she had left unfinished.

After being locked together in the closet, Artie and Quinn hadn't really spoken all that much. On the one hand, they hadn't felt they needed to. A simple look would suffice in saying everything. On the other hand, they both were trying to hide from the something or like which was there. And he had been with Tina for awhile. And she had been with Sam then caught between Sam and Puck then finally single. And then they had both been single but had not acted upon the something or like which was there.

That day, though, the moved towards each other, as if caught in the pull of one another's gravity. They met in the middle of the field on which they had graduated, him gazing up at her and her gazing down at him.

After nodding at each other, kind of dumbly, for several seconds, he said, "I think this is a now or never moment."

Furrowing her brow, she asked, "Now or never?"

"You know," he told her. "In the movies whn the two people who are meant to be together have this moment at graduation. They either get together now or never. Usually never in those cases is ten years in the future when they meet up again and lament the years gone by and how they should've been together…" Stopping his rambling, Artie adjusted his glasses. "Anyway, this is that kind of moment for us."

"So what do you want, Artie? Now? Or never?"

Swallowing, Artie knew he didn't have to think about it but he also wasn't the type of guy to initiate romantic type actions with a girl. Tina had been the one to kiss him first and Brittany had been the one to carry him to her bed. But Quinn was different. Circling her wrist with his fingers, he yanked her into his lap, gently, of course. Almost at once, he felt the need to say he was sorry and the apology was on the tip of his tongue but one look at her stopped him. Her eyes were shining and her cheeks were rosy and she was beautiful. Grinning, he raised a hand to her cheek and pulled her in for a kiss.

After that, everything faded away and he was acutely aware of nothing outside of the taste of her lips, the feel of the fingers of her one hand playing with the hair at the nape of his neck and the other braced on his chest for support, the few strands of her hair that brushed across his cheek.

It came over her in a wave that she just needed to be closer to him so she slid her hand off his chest and used it to pull herself nearer to him. It was a hot day and the heat radiating of his body made it even hotter. But she could bear it because it was him and this was happening.

When they finally separated, neither could speak. They gazed into one another's eyes trying to form sentences but it was impossible. Several times, Artie tried, opening his mouth, only to get shut down by his brain. Quinn's mouth was half ajar as she attempted to even think coherently but eventually gave up. Leaning forward, she kissed him gently on the lips and pressed her forehead to his.

"Uhhh…" he uttered.

"Mmhmm…" she returned.

In a matter of minutes, the two managed to speak and they planned their first date. Which led to another then another…which led to the end of the summer.

Both teens were trying not to be sad as the day approached when she would head off to Ohio State while he went to the local community college.

A week before the dreaded day, they were laying on Artie's bed, Veronica Mars playing in the background. Quinn had sneak attacked him with the show and he had fallen in love. With Kristen Bell, he often told her, teasingly. It had taken them two weeks to get through the entire series together and they had decided to rewatch their favorite episodes before they were separated for the semester. But somewhere between "Betty and Veronica" and "A Trip to the Dentist" they had forgotten about the show.

Needing water, Quinn pulled away from Artie and took a sip from the glass at his bedside. "Thirsty."

"I bet," he replied, reaching out to run his finger through her hair. He really liked touching her.

Once done drinking, she lay back down, putting her head on his stomach and twisting her body so she could stare up at him. "Hi."

"Hi." He could probably gaze into her eyes forever which was pretty cheesy but he was like that with her. "I'm going to miss you."

"Of course you are. Because we go together so well. We're like rama lama whatever the lyrics to that song are. You know, the one from Grease? I can never remember the lyrics but that's what we are."

Laughing, he brought her face up so he could kiss her forehead. "I remember once upon a time, I thought I was the dorky one. And the rambling one."

Smiling, she kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'm not a dork. And I'll miss you too."

"You are a dork," he replied. "But I love you like that." For a second, he was unsure whether or not he had actually said that out loud. When he realized he had, he held his breath. It wasn't like he didn't love her. Truth was, he had probably loved her for a long time and had just taken awhile to realize it or to admit it to himself or something. Now it was just waiting for her…waiting on her.

"I know." Snuggling up against him, she pressed her nose into his shirt and smelled him. "You smell like Artie."

"…you know?" Artie was not amused.

"I remember the first time I saw you, Artie. First grade, Mrs. Mills class. I sensed the connection then but it only grew over the years and especially in high school. You had this little, cute sweater…" Laughing, Quinn inched up and kissed his chin.

"And you were wearing a blue sweater and a white skirt." Feeling more than slightly panicked, Artie put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him, not wanting her to see his eyes at the moment.

Closing her eyes, Quinn wrapped her arms around his frame. "I love you too," she whispered.

Quietly laughing, he tightened his hold on her, dropping his lips to the top of her head. "Could've said that."

"Just did," she retorted. "I love you," she repeated, her tone full of conviction.

Smiling, because everything about her made him smile, especially the way she was with him, this side that no one else ever saw, he said, "Yeah, Quinn. I love you too."


End file.
